How We Check an Operator

The three labels

checked means a register or an authority states it. On the dive pages that is Green Fins, and the membership level carries the assessment with it.

claimed means the operator states it, and the source line says where we read the claim: their own website, their agency profile, or a reply to an email. It is evidence of what they claim, not evidence that it is true. That distinction is the whole reason this directory exists.

not checked means we could not check it, and we print the gap rather than drop the field. A directory that shows only what it managed to find looks complete and is not.

Three things worth knowing about the claimed fields

An agency named on an operator's own site is a claim, not a membership anyone let us look up. PADI, SSI and the rest publish no readable member list, so a logo on a website is the end of what we can see. A licence number is more useful than a logo precisely because you can take it to the authority yourself, which is the only check that counts. Instructor languages are what the operation states, and teams change with the season, so a list from last winter is a different claim from one taken this month.

A website offered in German tells you a translator was hired once. It does not tell you who is on the boat.

What each Green Fins level means

These are the register's own definitions, quoted, because the difference between them is larger than the badges suggest.

A Certified Member "received an in-person assessment from a Green Fins assessor within the last 12 months" and is scored out of 330, where lower is better: Gold up to 50, Silver up to 150, Bronze up to 200.

A Digital Member self-evaluates, and "Digital Members do not have to pass a minimum requirement". The digital score runs on a separate scale to 10 and in the other direction, so the two scores cannot be compared. A location where every member is Digital has been assessed by nobody, and our pages for those places say so in the title.

Restricted is not an administrative state. "Operations that score 201 or higher are classed as Restricted Members and will need to be reassessed to receive membership benefits", and a restricted member "has either not yet reached the minimum threshold assessment score, has not managed to effectively reduce their assessment score within the last two years or has been involved in an activity that is seen as seriously detrimental to the marine environment".

The register does not say which of those three applies to any one operation, and neither do we. We show the label because hiding it would be worse, and we refuse to guess at the reason behind it.

What no register carries

Insurance. No public register of operator liability cover exists in the countries we cover, so any directory claiming to have checked it is quoting the operator back to you. Guide ratios and in-water practice. The Green Fins assessment covers environmental impact, not supervision. Instructor languages, where they are blank. A blank means no answer yet, not that nobody there speaks your language.

For the sports with no readable register at all, which is most of them, see why no register stands behind these pages.

Corrections

If you operate one of these businesses and a field is wrong, write to us with the document and we will correct it and date the correction. We will not remove a factual register entry on request, and we do not accept payment for a listing, an ordering or a badge. If that ever changes it will be declared here and on the disclosure page before the first paid listing appears.